Preparation of extensible thread for winding about objects



June 3, 1952 H. 'N. Hus'E 2,599,390

PREPARATION OF EXTENSIBLE THREAD FOR WINDING ABOUT OBJECTS Filed NOV. 3, 1948 2 SHEETS-Sl-IEET l INVENTOR. H/QAM N H055 ATTORNEY June 3, 1952 IiIUSEI 2,599,390

H. N. PREPARATION OF E T IBLE THREAD FOR WINDING AB OBJECTS Filed Nov. 5, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 f nui' \Fnnuli.

INVENTOR. H/QA M N. HUSE ATTOQNEV Patented June 3, 1952 PREPARATION; QEEXTENQBIZE' Hi m N'- ltuse st d noolt- Appliea-tiop Nopemhel; 3, 1948, Serial No. 58,108

2,: C aims- My invention rela es; eerierally to a. method-oil preparing. extensiblethread for i-nd ne about an object, and to a method for applying a plae. tic. cover aboutrthe wot-ind object.

Whil new tnethodisusablein. mam oQn.--

neetionsr as: will beapparentirom the deseription to follow, for purposes, oi illustration andclar yof description, but not. by way of limitation invention will be. discussed in connection with the making. of balls, s11chas golf balls. for ex: ample.

In the making,- of gplt balls, the conventional practice is-towindan elastic. thr adfunder lon itudinal tension about: a, core of some sort until; the. ball is builtup to thev desired diameter; the. hall thuspreparedris. then covered with a. moulded cover.

These. balls are wound in automatic machines which. are operatedat high speed. The thread which may be rubber, either natural orsynthetie. nylon, orv other suitable. material, all hereinafter" referred to as extensible,-thread, is stretched Ionv itudinally subs antiallyto, its, elastic limit while bein wound. There are several reasons tor; the. greater the tension the harder the ball, which, so, far. as golf balls. are concerned, i an advantage-then again, it: is. very desirable to ap-.

ply the. thread in as thin and as fully tensioned condition. as. possible, anilin -8 1 1 as th re s a limit, to. the thinness to which the thread ean be manufactured commercially, by applying the thread under relatively high longitudinal tension the thread can be thinned out considerably While the longitudinal tension idea is univer-r sally used it, has; certain obgjections and limita,-. tions, one. important objection being thiad; breakage during winding; when the limit or sash longitudinal tension. is exceeded. This neee s-ie tates stoppage oi the machine, which on high speed automatic, machines is very objection le. Breakage may necessitate discarding or the ball. entirelyr The present invention provides, a method; whereby it is possible to produce thread-tension laterally in addition to the tension produced by stretching the thread longitudinally conven: tional fashion.

s app i d, to the windings f a otta bai his additional. lateral. tension Provides QQHQBQhQ s lu in o orden e wi the bas print .lo. at the fl ght of driven bal ncrease as: the total tension of: ts thr d Whidiaes ar increa ed o pr v e a harder so e win iest o. the pr sent invent 11 provides a method r y it is Pos ible to pr duce wind ngs in I ms to a. den.

Zeb- .51

which the hsoed endwitn. more to a stretch than can now be producedcon71;no rcia11 eno y ne a y. mo M h ea he em.

commerc al: a ti the. t sent. inventi n prois ts f oioore ssi e. he th while nder ongitudinal: ens on t ensionhe e d a lli; and ef eo a w deni o t a hi du es the thiokne s of the hr ad, as c mp ed h he h nose assumin rom m y Pl i he hread. widerlo itudi al t n i I find that soilong; as the thread remains under longiudmo nsio he re ative y e r c o mentioned precluded compressing the thread to s a l er l: t si n whi is. p rm In other words, thein aterial oi the thread appears to take a permanent structural set during; such tension: inasmuch as, the, thread is wound pon th bal un e ten ion. thi et. is retained with inereasedtptaltension of; the Wound ball;

In addition to the foregoing the present invention: pro i es: torpo xine a ov r t the b or other obiect being; wound, byinjeetion moulding, my invention providing tor pretreating the wound articleto. whieh. a coveris to be applied to revent the h a o h h flui pl o r stook item; dolotfi fiously efiecting the windings. The Pr reatment o h o nd. a i consists n. oooline the t read Wound o r t p x m ly the temperature of Dry Ice (Q02) or approxima o r before it. i n a od n. h m Not only oes th s .t n heat n o t ndtot: dose durin the l s: opera ion. but. i lora s he. co n o he some too s and oontra izes h p s n of e eo io d e. to. ve ly d stri uted mi t ex i caused it the heat expansion diforont al. w en th cor and hev cover st in he. aoeompenri drawin s. I have lusna od an apparatus uitable. for the practice of. nven ion. so ar es compressing the windin hre d v oonoerned o. tension the thread laterlly hile t be ng. stretch d and held in lana udina t tension.

Fin. 1 is a plan view? Fig; 2. is an elevational view, and

Fig. 3 is a, fragmentary seetional view of equiphave deemed it unnecessary to show a winding machine. It is to be understood that while this invention is not an improvement on any existing winding machine, it prepares the thread for an improved ball construction as described when such prepared thread is wound into a ball on any suitable winding machine as for example, the machine of my United States Patent 1,959,760 dated May 22, 1934, or the machine of my United States Patent 2,076,565 of April 13, 1937.

Referring to the drawings in detail;

2 designates the winding thread which is drawn from a suitable supply roll (not shown) and passed through thread-compressing and lateral tensioning apparatus and wound under lateral and longitudinal tension upon a core illustrated at 4.

The thread compressing and lateral tensioning apparatus comprises a pair of arms 6 and 8 which are curved or bent toward each other at their forward end so as to be pivoted together at 10 to a fixed mount l2.

The arm 8 adjacent its rear end is provided with a roller [4, which is one of the thread compressing and lateral tensioning rollers, this roller being equipped with a tension or brake drum I6. Passing over the tension or brake drum I6 is a friction band l8. One end of this friction band is anchored to the fixed support l2 as illustrated at 20, while the other end of the band is attached to a spring 22, which in turn is attached to a bolt 24 passing through the fixed support l2 and carrying a wing nut 26. By manipulating the nut 25 the tension of the band l8 and hence the braking effect on the drum l6 and roller l4 can be readily adjusted. If desired, the elements I8,

20, 22, 24 and 26 may be mounted on an arm affixed to or integral with arm 8.

The upper arm 6 of the thread compressin and lateral tensioning apparatus is equipped with a thread compressing and lateral'tensioning roller 28, the pivoted arm 6 thus providing a floating mount for the roller.

The rollers l4 and 28 are both mounted in anti friction bearings and are preferably of metal. They may be rubber covered if desired.

A rod 30 is pivoted at 32 to the fixed support l2 and passes up through the arms 6 and 8 to the rear of the rollers I 4 and 28. Between the fixed support l2 and the lower arm 8 the rod 30 carries a coil spring 34. The upper end of the rod 30 carries a wing nut 35.

At the start of the winding operation some of the thread 2 is drawn from the supply spool and several turns made by hand about the ball core 4, in much the same fashion as is done commercially when using the machines of my two patents above referred to. The core is then placed in the winding machine, which, for example, may be a machine such as disclosed in my prior Patent 1,959,760 above referred to. In passing the thread to the ball core it is led between the rollers I4 and 28. With the wing nuts 26 and 36 properly adjusted so as to place the desired drag on the roller l4 and the desired compression upon the thread, the winding machine may be started up continuously to rotate the ball core as explained in my prior patents above referred to and as understood by those skilled in this art. It will be appreciated that, as the ball core is rotated by the winding machine, the thread 2 will be tensioned longitudinally. Y

The rollers 14 and 28 arenot driven rollers, but are simply caused to rotate by the tension produced in the thread by rotation of the ball in the winding machine. By proper adjustment of the friction band l8 and by proper adjustment of the compression roller 28 through the setting of the wing nut 36, the thread 2 is compressed and tensioned laterally as it passes between the rollers l4 and 28, as illustrated at 38 in Fig. 1 and from the rollers to the ball is under longitudinal tension. It will be understood that from the supply roll to the rollers 14 and 28 the thread is not under tension.

I have found from tests which I have conducted that if the thread be compressed and laterally tensioned, as above described, and the thread be maintained under longitudinal tension, the material of the thread apparently takes a permanent set so far as its width is concerned with the result that inasmuch as the thread is wound upon the core under tension, an added lateral tension is'maintained and the thread as it lies about the core will be wider and thinner than would be the case if the same thread were simply wound upon the core under longitudinal tension in the usual fashion.

It will be apparent, therefore, that in the practice of my invention I compress and tension the thread laterally while tensioning the thread longitudinally thereby producing a. thinner and denser thread than is possible by the existing universal practice of merely placing the thread under longitudinal tension, assuming in both cases that the same amount of longitudinal tension is applied to the thread.

This is of importance in the manufacture of golf balls, for example, it being a well known fact, as above noted, that the hardness of the tensioned ball windings determines the values of the ball so far as flight is concerned.

After the winding of the ball has been completed, as above outlined, I may apply a cover thereto in the usual way; however, I prefer to apply the cover by the well-known injection molding process employing any suitable hot plastic fluid, nylon, for example, for the cover stock. When employing the injection mold method I prefer to chill the ball before placing it in the mold. This is to prevent injury to the windings due to the molding heats. The wound but coverless ball may be cooled to any extent desired but preferably to about F. Not only will this prevent injury to the windings by overheating the same but it will expedite the solidifying of the fluid plastic cover stock.

Apparatus suitable for the practice of this feature of my invention has been illustrated more or less diagrammatically in Fig. 3. Referring to this figure of the drawings, 40 and 42 designate the stationary platen and the movable platen, respectively, of a hydraulic press. Secured to the upper face of the stationary platen 40 is one half, 44, of the ball mold, while the other half, 46, of a ball mold is secured to the lower face of the movable platen 42. The mold opens along the flash line 48.

The mold halves are provided with suitable markings 50, which are to be transferred to the surface of the covered ball.

Prior to applying the cover to the ball core. but after the core has been wound as above explained, I mold cover stock pins 52 to the surface of the core windings. These pins are preferably conical, with the base at the windings, and they are evenly distributed on the winding surface. These are centering pins for supporting or maintaining the core centrally of the mold cavity.

Prior to placing the core in the mold, I cool the core to a very low temperature, even as low as -90 F. This may be done in any convenient way, as by the use of Dry Ice or by using a deep-freezing unit.

The purpose of thus cooling the core is, as above explained, to prevent injury to the core windings due to molding heats.

After the chilled core has been placed in the mold, the plastic cover stock, nylon, for example, or other suitable plastic in a heated condition so that it is semi-fluid, is injected into the two mold halves through flexible connections 54 and 56. These connections, it will be understood, are connected to a suitable source of hot semi-fluid plastic cover stock under pressure.

The mold is kept closed until the cover stock has cooled and solidified.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts hereinabove described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for treating extensible thread in its passage from a supply source to an object about which it is wound by rotation of the object, said apparatus comprising, in combination, a pair of arms pivoted at one end to a fixed support and extending away from said pivoted connection in the same general direction in spaced relation to each other; a roller mounted on each arm, said rollers being positioned abreast of each other and rotatable about parallel axes which are transverse of the arms; means for adjusting one roller relatively to the other. to adjust the gap between their peripheries to less than the thickness of the thread being treated, whereby, as the thread being treated passes between the rollers in its passage to the rotating objectabout which it is being wound, it will be stretched laterally; and a brake for one of said rollers so set that the thread must be stretched longitudinally to draw it from between the rollers to the object being wound.

2. Apparatus for treating extensible thread in its passage from a supply source to an object about which it is wound by rotation of the object, said apparatus comprising, in combination, a pair of arms pivoted at one end to a fixed support and extending away from said pivoted connection in the same general direction in spaced relation to each other; a roller mounted on each arm, said rollers being positioned abreast of each other and rotatable about parallel axes which are transverse cf the arms; means for adjusting one roller relatively to the other, to adjust the gap between their peripheries to less than the thickness of the thread being treated, whereby, as the thread being treated passes between the rollers in its passage to the rotating object about which it is being wound, it will be stretched laterally; and a brake for one of said rollers so set that the thread must be stretched longitudinally to substantially its elastic limit.

I-HRAM N. HUSE.

- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,153,408 Bogoslowsky Apr. 4, 1939 2,220,958 Jennings Nov. 12, 1940 2,335,190 Minich Nov. 23, 1943 2,351,350 Mallory "as. June 13, 1944: 

